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It's not as clever as the Maestro: look at one (or a Montego, in the unlikely event you can find either) and you'll see that more than half of the depth of the door was glass: which is why 1980s cars felt so light and airy compared to modern stuff.

The A1 looks like it's been reduced in the photocopier, a scaled-down 7/8s version of the original proposal.

If anything, it's more Allegro than Maestro: the waistline crease + rounded rump. But don't think BMW will be losing much sleep over it - it's not what you'd call cute. Take away the concept car glitz and it'll look pretty - ordinary.

I fully agree with Horseandcart. British designers have always dared to push the envelope and the results were often very successful even if ahead of their time.

One Leyland design that I really liked was the Princess, and let's not forget the Triumph 2.5 PI and Stag. I am glad to see many British designers exerting their influence in many car companies around the world.

And yes, Chas, the A1 does look like a Maestro and I think it looks pretty well proportioned and handsome. Is it just me or is that metallic paintwork fabulous?

To be fair Austin Rover, i.e. the rump of the once second largest producers in the world British volume car industry, always had good designs and designers. I would go further and say the British relationship to 'the car industry' has always centered on design and aesthetic and fallen down horribly when it comes/came to the nut and bolts of product development, high volume, repititve manufacture and organsing efficiently tens of thousand strong workforces.